Bookcraft 2.0: 7 Reasons eBooks Are Losing Readers

June 20, 2007 by Liz Leave a Comment

eCards, eBooks, NOT eNough eTime!

Do you read eCards?
Most of us donÃ¢â¬â¢t. We have our exceptions. We read them — IF they come from our children or a dear friend. We read those because we love the people who sent them, and we know they spent time to choose the right one.

We also read eCards WHEN we know someone is going to TEST US. . . . Did you like the dancing bear I sent you? . . . We read them THEN, but we don’t like it. No, uh-uh, not one bit.

Do you download eBooks?
Most of us do. We download them; print them; and read them — or we set them aside and forget them. eBooks used to seem a bargain. After the third, fifth, seventh download, we’re finding they’ve got their drawbacks. The investment seems to grow with each one.

Some of us read them on our computers. But most eBooks are darn long for that.

Are you less interested in eBooks now than you were a year ago?
Another isn’t as appealing to me. Even the free eBook doesn’t do anything — because free is far from free.

7 Reasons eBooks Peaked in Their Life Cycle

Are you less interested in eBooks now than you were a year ago? Do you think it could be because an eBook isn’t really made to serve you the way quality products are?

In the world of publishing, an eBook at its core is unfinished. It’s basically what would be sent to a printer. The eBook format makes sense for the most time-sensitive, changing information, such as Aaron Wall’s SEO Book — accurate, well-designed content, which includes free lifetime updates (no longer available in ebook form).

The speed at which I can get an eBook no longer means much when I consider what I invest to take it off my computer. I am the printer, binder, shipper, warehouse. When I download and print an eBook

I pay for the paper, the ink, and the wear on my printer.

It’s my time. It’s my computer. It’s my schedule that makes room for the download.

I get inconsistency and often more work than I bargained for. Would that every eBook was held to Aaron Wall’s standard of content, editing, design, and production. His book looks, reads, and prints like a dream. No I don’t know him. I appreciate quality.

They are not books. Books rarely fall apart when we turn the page.

An eBook takes up far more space than a bound book.

No matter how compelling the content, an eBook is an unlikely gift.

No eBook could hold a place of honor on an elegant bookshelf or coffee table.

As a delivery system, an eBook is unconstructed, low design packaging that benefits the author/publisher, more than the customer/reader. It’s not Web 2.0. It’s less choice than fast-food, usually with less quality control.

With what time I have to read, I read things I want to keep. An eBook is a pile of paper from my printer. It is not made to deliver reading ease or pleasure.

A traditional book is less expensive. ItÃ¢â¬â¢s designed to be read, easy to navigate, and it fits elegantly on my shelf. If you can only do it one way, a real book serves more readers in presenting information in a printed paper format.

Time, money, paper, ink, space, aggravation . . . what have you spent on eBooks?

Yeah, I could leave an eBook on my computer and read it there. There’s a list to go with that too. It starts with using resources and keeping me on my computer even longer than I am now.

To put it plainly, I’ll pump my own gas, because it’s faster. I’ll print my own boarding pass, because I don’t have to stand in line and wait. They both save me time and don’t tie me up or tie me to my computer.

Most eBooks deliver too little and cost too much for me. For a product to win on speed and low-cost design/production value, we have to get something real in return that we want.

I’m not. Are you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you’d like Liz to help you make a plan to meet your goals, click on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

The Headline’s NOT the Story

April 9, 2006 by Liz Leave a Comment

Newspapers Need to Change Metrics

For years, publishers have relied — often to their detriment — upon the metric of paid circulation. But circulation for the core product has been on a long, steady decline, causing some to suggest that print is on its way out.

The industry has touted the notion of readership — a metric that takes into account how many people read the paper whether they buy it or not — for years, but has often taken halfhearted steps toward giving it true legitimacy.

Then there’s the confounding, if promising, online angle. If you count Web traffic, newspapers are actually more popular than ever.
Jennifer Saba, associate editor, Editor and Publisher, Dispelling the Myth of Readership Decline

Surveys Say Move Online–Really?

I came across For Future Readers, Papers Should Look Online earlier this week. It was written by staff writer, Sara Kehaulani Goo, in the Washington Post. I read it and set it aside as not much, but it nagged at me. At first, I was puzzled. Why was the Washington Post writing about this? They were ahead of most at knowing where the readers are. This couldn’t be news to them or their readers. The piece itself didn’t offer much depth. It almost seemed to be filler.

The point of the article was that two surveys–one by the Newspaper Association of America and a second by marketing firm, Scarborough Research–point to the fact that 18-24 year-olds want news, but not newsprint. The point was supported by data and some compelling quotes. I’m guessing this one quote will be all over the Internet.

“People who are not necessarily engaged with the print product are increasingly using the newspaper Web site for news and information in their local market,” said Randy Bennett, senior vice president of audience and business development at the newspaper association. “Blogs, video and other multimedia content beyond what appears in the newspaper are all having an impact on usage of newspaper Web sites.”

Done But Not Over

This morning I decided to use the Washington Post article to inform an article I was writing on my personal business blog, Lizstrauss.com that came to be called WashingtonPost Now to Editor and Publisher Then. While I was doing further research, I found a more serious analysis of the newspaper readership issue written up last November by Jennifer Saba, associate editor of Editor and Publisher. Ms. Saba’s four page article not only cited and quoted the same sources, but laid out the challenges and the potential of what lies ahead for print newspapers. I finished my writing a short while ago, yet the Washington Post article was still in my head–puzzling me. I was done with what I had set out to do, but it seemed my job was not over yet.

The REAL Story

I went back to the Washingtonpost.com article one more time to figure out what it was that was bothering me. Then I found it. It was a quote. This quote I suspect everyone will overlook. It’s the only new information in the article. It says volumes about how the MSM looks at the Internet. This quote is the real story. How I wish Ms. Kehaulani Goo had started her article here.

“But if you continue to grow 30 percent or more a year, within five years, for example, online classified revenue will equal what you’ll get from your print model,” [John] Morton [newspaper analyst] said. “My concern is how newspaper managers treat this online profit. If they treat it as ‘found’ money and don’t use it to shore up the economic model of the declining newsprint model, it’s going to spell bad news for newsrooms.”

Do You Hear It?

Mr. Morton is worried that the newpaper managers won’t take the online readership and profits seriously. He understands that they need it to make the economics of a 21st-century newspaper work. Why wouldn’t managers see the way he does? Do they know something he doesn’t? Do they have their heads in the sand? Perhaps they are preparing to teach citizen readers too.

God bless the mainstream media! They are so generous.

And here I thought I was the nice one.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Great Find: Top Ten Desktop Diversions of 2006

April 1, 2006 by Liz Leave a Comment

What’s most interesting about this list is that sites once unknown outside of the blogosphere are included. Wouldn’t expect to find Technorati here. Would you?

Great Find: Top Ten Desktop Diversions by Liz Ryan of BusinessWeekonline
Type of Article: List of online sites, with commentary
Permalink: http://www.businessweek.com/careers/content/mar2006/ca20060327_414798.htm?campaign_id=nws_insdr_mar31&link_position=link18
Target Audience: Anyone looking for an online diversion from work

Content: Liz Ryan writes this list as a follow up to a piece BW did last year called Top Ten Time Wasters. ( I searched but couldn’t find us a link.) The premise here is to offer informational and interactive sites that provide a break and diversion from work. Included in this list are links to sites where you can

estimate the value of your home
send an email to a monk
make a map of any number of things
publish your ideas
check your popularity on the Internet
catch a flick
make fun of pop culture
get groceries
get the 30,000 foot view

My guess is that you will know 3-5 sites on this list already. I’d be interested, if the answer for you is less or more than that many. Certainly bloggers are more Internet aware than the average magazine reader, but this is BusinessWeekonline after all. To read the article, click the screenshot.

Top Ten Desktop Diversions, 2006 Screenshot Link

A year ago, the information flow was one way only–bloggers getting ideas from the mainstream media. Have they started getting ideas from us? I think we’re seeing a trend that is growing.

Technorati? Interesting. Really.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Who’s Reading Your Comments?

March 3, 2006 by Liz Leave a Comment

Who’s Listening?

Washingtonpost.com Blog Buzz Article screenshot

You’re looking for a new TV. . . . You’re not certain whether you want Hi-Def or plasma screen. You decide to research it online. You find a few blogs and forums. You start reading, asking questions, making comments about the TV that you have now.

You’re a saavy Internet user. You know that not all you read will be true–that some folks will be talking without knowing anything, and some will be there to just sell you. You also know that what you say will stay where you wrote it long after you leave it behind.

But did you know that sophisticated software could be picking up your comments, evaluating them, and sending that information back to the manufacturer? Blogging, list serve, and forum comments have become a predictor of consumer trends.

The comments are particularly valuable for measuring customer sentiment because they’re gut-level and spontaneous. “Internet word of mouth is extremely important,” said Steve Rubel, a marketing expert and senior vice president at Edelman public relations. “You see what the most vocal consumers have to say about you and about your competitors — and they’re saying it without necessarily knowing you’re watching them.” –from Washingtonpost.com Blog Buzz Helps Companies Catch Trends in the Making, March 3, 2006

It was inevitable.

Nielsen Ratings? No Nielsen BuzzMetrics

In a merger that took place last week, BuzzMetrics joined with Intelliseek to form Nielsen BuzzMetrics. The new enterprise uses trawling software to collect, sort, and evaluate consumer comments to a level of sophistication that allows an overall rank of positive or negative, with details that to the other way. An example of that might be

I’m totally sold on the new plasma screen by Company K, but I worry about their customer service.

Neilsen BuzzMetrics captures hundreds of thousands of comments daily. They are literally tracking word of mouth–well, word of keyword as mouth proxy. The data is sorted, compiled to meet specific job parameters, and trends are plotted for client companies.

What Does This Mean?

As with any new technology, it’s only as smart as the people who use it. As with any data tool, the art is in how you choose to sort and interpret it.

This new process could mean that consumer companies will start doing things that need to get done, because consumer issues will come to light.
It could mean companies will hear faster and move faster when they have a customer base that is unhappy with them.
It could mean that customer service would happen and companies will be more profitable–the economy could improve for everyone.

Companies could let the software make decision for them.
We could end up with even more “sit-com,” one-size-fits-all consumer solutions than we have already.

What I See

If you think about it, this is hi-tech version of a poll or a focus group and as such, it carries the same values and pitfalls. I can’t help but think about a court transcript that might read like this:

Policeman: May I have permission to search your car?
Driver: Oh yeah, that’s what I want.

Without context, it’s not certain whether the driver’s answer is a “Yes, please do.” or a “Not on your life.”

The leaders who know what to take and what to leave from a Nielsen BuzzMetrics report will make great gains. Those who blindly follow the numbers will be as lost as they were before.

The good news for small business is that trend, if it becomes the norm, provides one more temptation for big companies to be looking in the wrong direction–to be getting overly-involved with discussing the data rather than taking what they need and moving on.

While big companies are playing with this new toy that brings everything down to numbers. Small enterprises can channel their energy into building brands based on innovating and strong relationships with real people–their customers.

Business is relationships not numbers. No matter how you compile, sort, and plot it. If you don’t understand the people who are talking, it’s awfully hard to tell which words are important and which words don’t mean a thing.

–ME “Liz” Strauss